Update, 8:30 p.m.: Mandatory evacuations to be lifted for Tuolumne, Mariposa counties

Bee Staff Reports
·7 min read

Update, 8:30 p.m.: Tuolumne, Mariposa mandatory evacuations to be lifted

All mandatory evacuation orders in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties will be lifted Tuesday at 8 a.m., allowing residents to return to their homes.

The Moc Fire, which encompasses both Tuolumne and Mariposa counties, is now 30% contained, according to CalFire.

Roads that were once closed will now be open to residents only. They include:

  • Highway 49 from 120 to Black Creek

  • Priest Coulterville Road, from Highway 120 to Junction 132/Greeley Hill Road.

Residents of the Highway 49 or Priest Coulterville areas will need to present identification as these areas will be open to residents only, according to the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Department.

The Moc Fire, which has burned 2,800 acres, remains an active incident.

Update, 3:30 p.m.: Less dry lightning than expected helps firefighters on SCU fire

A storm that moved through the area late Sunday and early Monday delivered less dry lightning than expected, authorities said at a press conference updating conditions at the SCU Lightning Complex fires Monday afternoon.

“Lightning strikes did not come in the way we expected them to last night,” a Cal Fire official said. Firefighters had worried the lightning would ignite a fresh round of fires.

The northern and easterly portions of the fire have been fairly well contained, authorities said. “More challenging beause of the way the wind has pushed the fire is the south side.”

Update, 1:30 p.m.: Conditions for Moc Fire better today than Sunday

Officials at a community meeting on Monday afternoon said the potential for containment of the Moc Fire is looking better today than it was yesterday.

There were lightning strikes in the area on Sunday night causing four additional small fires locally, but crews could not find them because of the heavy smoke in the area.

The Moc Fire remained 20% contained and firefighters kept the it to 2,800 acres burned. When the fire started, there was a “grim outlook” regarding the potential for fire personnel who were heading to other fires around the state. But other personnel arrived from out of the area and now about 750 are assisting.

The rugged terrain has made it tough fighting the fire, which began in the northeast quadrant of the area and has spread south.

Update, 10 a.m.: Moc Fire now 20% contained

Highway The Moc Fire, which encompasses Tuolumnne and Mariposa counites, is 20% contained, according to CalFire’s latest upddate this morning.

The agency said fire behavior has hampered efforts over the last several hours. A threat remains for the Priest Coulterville Road area.

No fire personnel – there are 750 working the fire – and civilians have been injured in the blaze, which has consumed 2,800 acres.

Update, 8:25 a.m.: Caltrans closes roads around Moc Fire

Highway 120/49 is closed in the area of the Moc Fire, the state Department of Transportation said in a post on Twitter Monday morning. The road is closed from Chinese Camp in Tuolumne County east to SR-120/Priest Grade and south to SR-49/Penon Blanco Road in Mariposa County. Drivers are advised to seek alternate routes. There is no estimated time of reopening, Caltrans said.

Update, 7:45 a.m.: Crews at SCU Lightning Complex could get break

Unlike Sunday, More moderate weather conditions this afternoon – more humidity and cooler temperatures – could give those fighting the SCU Lightning Complex, which includes the Canyon Zone Fire in and around Stanislaus County’s Del Puerto Canyon, the break they need.

The fire grew overnight a little, to 347,196 acres, and CalFire was able to assess more of the damage as containment remained at 10%.

The agency announced Monday morning that 12 structures had been destroyed and 12 “minor structures” also were destroyed. More than 20,000 structures remained threatened.

Three first responders and two civilians have suffered injuries.

There is still no estimate on when the fire, which encompasses seven counties, including Merced, will be under control.

Diablo Grande Parkway and the Diablo Grande community remain under an evacuation warning.

There was no immediate update Monday morning on the Moc Fire in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties with the exception that containment had gone from 10% to 12%.

Update, 6:50 a.m.: Air quality off to a poor start on Monday

Unlike Sunday, when some Stanislaus County residents were greeted with a somewhat blue sky in the morning, Monday has gotten off to a bad start in terms of air quality.

The air quality index at 6 a.m. was at 164, in the unhealthful range as fires to the east and west of Modesto continued to burn.

On Sunday, through at least late morning, the AQI was in the 80s, in the moderate range.

The National Weather Service on Thursday issued an Air Quality Alert, that remains in place until crews can get hold of the fires burning in Stanislaus County and elsewhere (the SCU Lightning Complex) and in Tuolumne and Mariposa counties (the Moc Fire). There are other fires throughout Northern California and in the hills east of Fresno.

Temperatures in the mid to high 90s are expected through Friday in the Modesto area.

We should have an update on the fires shortly.

Update, 7:40 p.m.: SCU Lightning fire grows; overnight conditions a concern

In updates Sunday night on various fires, here is the latest:

The SCU Lightning Complex grew to 343,965 acres throughout the day. The LNU Lightning Complex in Sonoma and surrounding counties has grown to 347,630 acres.

Crews are especially worried about the hot, dry and windy conditions facing them into Sunday night and Monday morning. The Red Flag warning has now been extended to 5 p.m. Monday.

CalFire also updated its evacuation warnings to include four spots in Merced County:

  • North of Hwy 152 to I-5 to the Santa Clara County Line and Stanislaus County Line

  • West of the I-5 excluding the community of Santa Nella

  • .East of Santa Clara County Line and Stanislaus County Line to the Delta-Mendota

  • South of the Stanislaus County Line to Hwy 152

Meanwhile, the Turlock Fire Department announced they have firefighters at the LNU Lightning Complex, the North Complex in Plumas and the BTU Lightning Complex just south of Chico.

In a set of numbers released by CalFire on Sunday:

  • Since Aug. 15, there have more more than 12,000 lightning strikes.

  • There have been 615 new wildefires.

  • More than 14,000 firefighters are covering 2,400 fire engines, 284 dozers, 327 fire crews, 321 water tenders and 95 aircraft.

  • There have been about 60 out of state engines.

  • Two dozen wildfires have consumed more than 1.1 million acres.

Update, 5:15 p.m.: CalFire talks at Sunday afternoon press conference

With more adverse weather expected from Sunday night into Monday, officials with CalFire and partner agencies urged residents within the SCU Lightning Complex fires to take evacuation warnings and orders seriously.

“We are hyper-focused with CalFire Team 6 on that structure defense component and evacuations,” Jake Hess, the chief assigned to the Santa Clara Unit, said at a news conference in Alameda County on Sunday afternoon. “So, please, please, look at those evacuation orders or warnings and listen to those. We put those out there for a reason.”

Officials said 1,323 personnel are fighting the SCU Lightning Complex, which now involves San Benito and Merced counties in addition to Stanislaus, San Joaquin, Alameda, Contra Costa and Santa Clara.

Speaking on areas of particular concern, a CalFire chief spoke about the southern piece of the Canyon Fire in and around Del Puerto Canyon. “The fire continues to push down into the (Henry W. Coe ) State Park through wilderness area, and that continues to give us a little challenge,” he said. “We’ve created a number of different contingency lines on both sides of the fire and those contingency lines are usually done with bulldozers that are creating lines the fire can’t burn through.” Those bulldozed lines are augmented with an attack from tankers that lay down retardant lines.

Hess referred to the SCU Lightning Complex battle as a marathon. Getting the fire controlled and extinguished is just the first part. Then will come the “fire suppression repair piece,” he said. The CalFire Santa Clara Unit will be living with this incident for years, he predicted.

Returning to the more immediate future, Hess said the potential lightning to come Sunday night and Monday “has us very white-knuckled right now” and CalFire turning to partner agencies for resources.

Twenty-plus lightning strikes began the fires that merged into the SCU Complex, he said, calling it an “unprecedented event that immediately overwhelmed our resources” and has crews battling 22 fires spread out over the counties.